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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1975-05-29, Page 13..,, ciftg,t ,ort , . . . Ontario Seconcl-Seettort Thunday, May 29, 1975 110th Year - No. 22 Interesting hobby leads to second career for Clinton man Duke was 10 years old when he started Harold Swan in the tack shop business. That was seven years ago. Today Duke is a far cry from the strapping figure he cut in his youth. Bowed , with age and sway- backed, he slowly plods along. A hasbeen? Maybe, but he still has a lot of good years left in him, as far as Mr. Swan is con- cerned, nothing can replace his companion of 14 years - his horse, Duke. Mr. Swan had just completed 91/2 years in the grocery business when he decided to The shop has everything imaginable for horses, from the tiniest pony to the biggest Percherion. take up "fancy leather work" as a hobby. The fancy leather work, worked its way into bridles' and harnesses for Duke, and whet\ Mr. Swan would take him to fairs and shows, "People would see me with rny equipment and would atk 'Where'd you get that?' ". Before you could say 'tack shop,' Mr. Swan found himself making bridles and harnesses as a business. On retiring from the grocery business in 1968, Mr. Swan had been offered jobs as a bookkeeper and an insurance agent. "I started learning the insurance business but I just couldn't sell something. that I couldn't hold in my hands while doing so, like I do here in the shop,' he said. No stranger to the world of horses, having constantly worked around them, the Clinton man said he first knew the various pieces of harness and bridle but didn't know how large a piece of leather he would need to make them. "There were times when I'd cut a piece just a bit too shvet and would have to start all over again," he said, which tended to be an expensive practice considering the high price of leather. IrloVieVS,Vie10106, It's not hard to get the leather, he claims, but you have to pay for the quality. Mr. Swan _pays $50 for, a hide and rates Spire brand English leather as the best leather he works with. He spends most of his time repairing bridles and harnesses, working in an hour here or there for making them. "I used to fix tarps and tents as favours, but I got so many, and things got so out of hand that I had tostop," he said. This over -abundance of work has plagued, Mr. Swan since he learned the trade through trial and error. • "Even before I could learn an"ything, they Were bringing things in for me to fix," he said. • Since -those-early -days, he has_ adopted the motto: 'Good jobs at a fair price, but Mr. Swan is quick to add that far from being idle, he has all the leather work that he wants right now, even though he could take on more. "Sure sales would go farther," he - "but I'd be knee deep in work. You cduldn't keep the customers happy anymore because you wouldn't have time to do a good job." The quality of his workmanship has •"'"'T,A*,0 • spread by word of mouth until Mr. Swan now has customers coming to him from London and Listowel. His services are also in demand because there are few other harness repairmen in the Southern Ontario. Except for a few individuals in Elmira, St. Marys and Brussels, nobody does the repair or custom made work that beeps Harold Swan so busy. Heavy demand for his services begins in April and carries through June and July. Mr. Swan is busier than usual though, as people preparing for the Clinton Centennial Parade keep bringing in bridles and harnesses for him to fix. Patience and the ability to apply yourself to hard work are the secrets of the tack tradc;--according to Mr. Swan; qualities that he feels most people today are lacking. "People will come in and tell me I'rr craze to do repair work by hand, but you have to do some work by hand or you'll ruin it," he said. "I'll either do a good job or I just won't do it." Whether it's cow neck straps, bridles, harnesses' or hobble hangers, all things Mate -at the -Tack -Shop- reeeive-the-sa care and skill of experience. Although Mr. Swan is "sneakin' on retirement age," he plans to operate his tack shop as long as his health holds out. The day that he does retire, he is sure someone, will come to carry on the art of leather craft. Mr. Swan's hobby -turned -business "got bigger than I expected, mighty quick," but he doesn't regret having taken it up. A lot of other people don't regret Mr., Swan's decision either. And to think it all started with a hoofed, chestnut -coloured beast na med Duke. Harold poses with Duke, the horse that started him in the business. + story by Chris bleb photos by Jim Fitzgerald His reputation is spread by word of mouth. Harold 15 50 busy, he needs no advertising. - He proudly shows off a custom made pony harness, unique in Ontario.